Frenchie Knee

Question

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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
I have a three year old Frenchie who has recently had problems with his left hind leg, as well as spasming mid-spine. He's a very active, very reactive dog who likes to play with the big boys! Whenever he plays too hard, twisting or moving too suddenly, he yelps in pain as he pulls the leg up, unable to move it or put weight on it for a minute or two. He has just finished a second round of both muscle relaxants and anti-inflamatories. Yet the problem still continues. He is favoring it when he walks or goes up steps. The vet wants to x-ray him to determine if it is indeed, a luxating patella or something else. She says 'normally,' an LP will not be accompanied by back spasm. I was wondering your opinion on this. Secondly, I was always told to avoid anesthesia, if at all possible, in a Frenchie because it can further complicate their breathing. Any comment? Thanks so much!
-----Answer-----
This is definitely an LP issue. If you don't keep him confined and away from the "big boys" until this resolves, it's surely going to require surgical repair. Crate rest and leash walking only,  for a month. Then reevaluate the situation.

Now, if his knee is causing him pain, he's going to try to adjust his movement to compensate, thus causing his back to spasm. This is just my opinion, but if you have a broken toe, you walk off center and get a back ache until it heals. I know this from experience.

Anesthesia is always an issue with bracephalic breeds, but he can't live in constant pain either.  Be assured that if you have one knee done, the other will surely require surgery within a short time.
Thanks Marjorie! You've confirmed my worst suspicion. In reading your replies to others regarding LP, however, you say to avoid this surgery if at all possible. Is this the
case here? Just to clarify for this layman, you say, in regards to x-rays, 'he can't stay in pain forever,'do you recommend he have them and, possibly, the surgery or, is there another recourse we can take.And would you also
advise Glucosimine treatment as part of his therapy? Thanks for your extremely fast reply on my first questions!

Answer
The xray is worth doing. You will find out if the patella is luxating medially or laterally. However, I strongly suggest you go through the process of keeping the dog confined and quiet for a month to see if you can get this knee back to a point where surgery isn't necessary.

In some cases where the dog is in constant pain, surgery is the only option. Glucosomine will definitely not hurt so give it a try. The problem with surgery on one knee is that it almost always results in surgery on the opposite knee due to the stress put on it while the other is healing.